More handpicked essays just for you.
Cathedral raymond carver analysis
Cathedral raymond carver analysis
Analysis of the cathedral by Raymond Carver
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Cathedral raymond carver analysis
Richard Carver’s “Cathedral” focuses on the dealing and overcoming of predispositions. On a more critical accord, “Cathedral” exemplifies the testing journey of marriage. Carver reveals the reality of close outside friendships impends on marriage through unsettling insecurities, conflicting emotions, and ultimately leading to betrayal.
Within the text we notice the invading friendship between the unrevealed narrator’s (the husband) wife and the blind character Robert. Their relationship initiates the insecurities for the narrator, as it transpired though the course of ten years and many deep revealing conversations. Robert and his wife shared with each other countless important and confidential moments of their lives, but the narrator deems this as a breach of marriage confidentiality as he states “…she’s told him everything!” (1055). His anxiety is exemplified when Robert comes and says he feels as if they’ve already met, which left the narrator spinning in the wonder of what Robert has seen. He is left with his raging emotions as he processes the warm embrace his wife and Robert...
The narrator’s prejudice makes him emotionally blind. His inability to see past Robert’s disability stops him from seeing the reality of any relationship or person in the story. And while he admits some things are simply beyond his understanding, he is unaware he is so completely blind to the reality of the world.
“Cathedral,” a short story written by Raymond Carver, presents an intriguing story of an ignorant man 's lesson. During this story, Carver 's working class characters are crushed by broken marriages, financial issues, and fulfilling jobs, but they are frequently unable to understand or communicate their own sufferings. However, the main story consists of the narrator, known as “Bub,” facing an internal conflict about a blind man named Robert staying the night in his home. Regardless of the fact that this blind man is his wife 's long time friend, the narrator cannot find himself comfortable with such an idea because of his extreme prejudices. Although, despite the narrator’s conflict he finds himself connecting to Robert on a more personal
In Raymond Carver's "Cathedral," the husband's view of blind men is changed when he encounters his wife's long time friend, Robert. His narrow minded views and prejudice thoughts of one stereotype are altered by a single experience he has with Robert. The husband is changed when he thinks he personally sees the blind man's world. Somehow, the blind man breaks through all of the husband's jealousy, incompetence for discernment, and prejudgments in a single moment of understanding.
Raymond Carver's "Cathedral" depicted the interaction between a narrow minded husband, with a limited understanding of the world around him, and a blind visitor, named Robert, that proved to be the catalyst that dramatically changed the husband's view on the world, while they went from being strangers to becoming friends. In the beginning of the story, the husband disliked the concept of his wife bringing her blind friend over to stay since he never had met a blind person before and did not understand it. However, as the story progresses, the husband, through interaction and observation, begins to dispel his fears and misconceptions of Robert and his blindness. With the help of Robert, the husband gains a revelation that changed his view and opened his eyes to the world.
The irony between Robert and the narrator is that even though Robert is blind, he pays attention to detail without the need of physical vision. Roberts’s relationship with the narrator’s wife is much deeper than what the narrator can understand. Robert takes the time to truly listen to her. “Over the years, she put all kinds of stuff on tapes and sent the tapes off lickety-split. [...] She told him everything, or so it seemed to me” (Carver 124). This demonstrates that the narrator is in fact somewhat jealous of how his wife confides in Robert, but still overlooks the fact that he doesn’t make the slightest effort to pay attention to her. Also the narrator is not precisely blind, but shows a lack of perception and sensitivity that, in many ways, makes him blinder than Robert. Therefore, he has difficulty understanding people’s views and feelings that lie beneath the surface.
The narrator’s wife knew Robert for a long time because she used to work for him and his wife had died so she was the one who was taking care of him since he was all alone. “I wasn’t enthusiastic about his visit” (Carver 2) said the narrator. The narrator did not like the blind man because he was extremely close with his wife and they were always sending each other tapes in the mail to keep in touch. Since the narrator was not such a big fan of the blind man, he did not understand why it was such a important time when Robert had asked to touch his wife’s face during her last day working with him. She was working with him all summer but he was blind so he did not even know what she looked like so when he touched her face, she wanted to write a poem about it since it was an important time during her summer job helping him. A while after the narrators wife worked with Robert, they ended up communicating again and she sent him a recording of her talking about her recent life. “She loved her husband but she didn’t like it where they lived and she didn’t like it that he was a part of the military-industrial thing” (Carver 2). The narrator was getting jealous of this relationship between the two of them because it seemed to be going better then his and his wife’s relationship. Since the blind man moved into their house for a period of time,
This essay is going to be about “Cathedral” which is a short story written by Raymond Carver. Cathedral is simply the narrative of a man and his acceptance and understanding of a blind man. The man himself is a symbol of the overlying theme of the story, which is overcoming one’s personal prejudice. Throughout the story the narrator shows that he has a predetermined mindset of what a blind man is, his struggles, and his lifestyle. The author shows that the narrator’s stubbornness affects both his relationship with his wife, and his personal evocation of emotions. In Raymond Carvers “Cathedral”, we see the struggles of overcoming prejudices tackled throughout the narrative, as depicted through motifs, and symbols.
This theme goes hand in hand with the theme portrayed in Hills Like White Elephants. In the story the narrator, whose name is never mentioned, has something against his wife’s blind friend, Robert, due to the fact that he cannot see. Robert visits the narrator and the narrator’s wife for company. It seems that the narrator had a preconceived idea that all blind people are boring, depressed, stupid, and are barely even human at all based on the fact that they cannot see the world. Robert, although he is blind, is a caring and outgoing person who is extremely close with the narrator’s wife. The fact that Robert is extremely close with the narrator’s wife should be reason enough for the narrator to accept him as a person, but he is a cold and shallow person with no friends. His relationship with his wife is lacking good communication and seems very bland. Robert’s wife recently passed away, but their relationship was deep and they were truly in love with each other. The narrator was blind to how a woman could work with, sleep with, be intimate with, and marry Robert as has he talks about how he felt sorry for her. The narrator is superficial and does not understand true love or
Unfortunately, these terms describe the narrator very accurately, but what we don't know is, why does he act this way with his wife, when it concerns Robert? It is the opinion of the writer of this essay, that the Narrator is only insecure. The relationship that his wife shares with another man is uncommon, regardless of whether or not he is blind. Although, the wife sees her communication with Robert as being harmless, and a means of expressing herself. However, on the other hand, the Narrator sees, hears and understand, that his wife has an intimate relationship with Robert. Although she will never admit it.
It is Sunday morning, and the noise of hundreds of people walking around the cathedral is heard around the square. The cathedral is magnificent, it rises around two hundred feet in the air with menacing gargoyles and marvelous stained glass windows. Cathedrals are mainly used as a divine symbol, but in Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral” he uses the cathedral to represent the relationship between the narrator and his wife. In his story Carver shows that the narrator is a very jealous and bitter person who, often, overlooks his marriage, and does not try to build a better relationship with his wife. Once the wife’s blind friend, Robert, comes to visit, he gives the narrator a new way to look at their marriage. This gives the narrator a chance to see inside himself, for the first time, to see what he has missed out on in the marriage.
Logan Pearsall Smith once said, “It is not what an author says, but what he or she whispers, that is important.” This quote indicates that is it not the words that the author writes, but the meaning that is hidden in between the lines that matters the most. It is the job of the reader to interpret what the author is trying to actually say. This statement justifies that authors might provide their audience with certain themes by the means of the sentences in their stories. Both of Ernest Hemingway’s short stories Hills like White Elephants and Soldier’s Home support the idea. Hemingway does not exactly indicate his view on the world, but one might guess it by the way he writes his characters. Within each of his stories, the reader might find that Hemingway makes the male character the dominant sex by the use of characterization and conflict.
In Cathedral, Raymond Carver shares his characters’ relationships and their inability to understand the significance of their own relationships. The narrator and the blind man known as “Robert” are the two main characters in the story. Carver’s “Cathedral” is narrated by the main character who is ignorant, self-centered and unaware. Robert the blind man, on the other hand, is insightful and understands life. Ironically, he is blind but has a right perspective and is not ignorant. Both characters have feelings for the narrator’s wife. Robert and the narrator have relationship issues, but they both have different ways to solve the problem. The narrator is uncomfortable with Robert spending the night at his house, whereas when Robert met him,
A short story about a couple who interactions with a blind man, about the overly masculine presence of the narrator and his desire to the center of conversation, how the wife struggles with depression and lack of self confidence, and eventually pushes back and triumphs. Carver paints a mental image throughout Cathedral of how being close-minded and ignorant comes to bite the narrator in the end.
“Cathedral,” by Raymond Carver is a short story with a skeptical, yet heartwarming message about judgmental and prospering challenges. This short story starts with a case of discomfort from the main character, because of his jealousy towards an old blind man. In this story, I got the feeling of possessiveness or simply jealousy that the main character/ narrative has while reading, and how his discomfort was brought on by the old blind man and the elderly blind man’s relationship with the narrator’s wife. The wife and elderly man were close and worked together about ten years before and had continued a father/mentor relationship for years after. All in all, I did personally argue that the narrator has a slight
Cathedral is a short story that evokes a powerful message of perspective. With only three underdeveloped characters and 13 pages, Raymond Carver is able to present a life altering, and rather relatable snippet in one man’s life. With little details or development, one can distinguish tenseness between characters, and especially in the husband’s inner dialog. Along with the husband’s discomfort, Carver also alludes to a cold power complex, mostly caused by discrimination, between the husband and the blind man. The husband, wife, and blind man are coming together for the first time, and readers are subject to the husband’s views transforming.